7 Ingredient Veggie Sliders

I am not the type of girl that just orders a salad every time we go out.

I used to be that girl, but that was when I used to be over concerned about my thighs touching. No more. If I’m hungry, give me a burger. Half burger, half ketchup, that is, with tons o’ fries. Then I’m a happy patron.

But I’m not always big on meat. I mean, have you ever eaten a burger and then felt like you needed a 5 hour nap just to recover? Yeah, that’s me. In my quest to find the perfect veggie burger I’ve tried quite a few but never quite felt like I’d found “the one.” That had to change.

With this recipe I not only aimed to simplify veggie burgers, but also keep them flavorful and with sturdy texture. In my mind, a good veggie burger should be slightly crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, and not at all “gummy.”

Friends, I’m happy to report that these little gems not only require just 7 ingredients, but they also hit the nail on the head with both flavor and texture. Serious score.

The base starts with onion and mushroom, sautéed to deepen their color, flavor and texture. Then I added in a light seasoning of salt, pepper and chili powder (or cumin). Then came the mashed beans – I went with kidney to try something different than black beans, which is the legume most veggie burgers rely on.

Last but not least, ground walnuts and cooked quinoa for a “dry” that not only creates a lovely crumbly texture, but also adds heaps of nutritional benefits.

I had one for sampling purposes, then another…The rest are just waiting to be devoured. These won’t last long around my house or yours.

This recipe yields about 10 thicker baked sliders, or 16 thinner “grilled” sliders. So one batch will feed a descent-sized crowd! But if it’s just you and a friend, I’d suggest par-baking them for maybe 15 minutes and then pulling them out to freeze. Then, when you’re ready to eat one, just pop it out of the freezer and bake until warmed through and adequately browned and no longer tender.

All that’s left to do is top as desired. I went with ketchup, mustard, lettuce, onion, tomato. But I’m someone of a hamburger purist, so do as you wish! I’m sure these would be awesome with avocado and salsa for more of a Mexican spin, or with cheese (vegan or not) and some vegan bacon. Dream big and eat several – they are sliders after all. Enjoy!

7 Ingredient smoky veggie sliders that are gluten free, vegan and perfectly tender and crumbly. Make the whole batch for a crowd, or par-bake half, freeze and save them for later.

Author: Minimalist Baker

Recipe type: Sandwich

Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten Free

Serves: 8

Ingredients

1/2 red onion, finely diced (~3/4 cup)

6 button or baby bella mushrooms, diced (~1 1/4 cups)

Salt and Pepper

1 15-ounce can kidney (or black) beans, well rinsed and drained

3/4 cup cooked quinoa

1 Tbsp chili powder (or sub cumin), yes Tablespoon

~1/2 cup raw walnuts, crushed or ground into a loose meal (divided)

OPTIONAL: For even more flavor, add a shake of vegan worcestershire or A-1 sauce when adding the chili powder

Instructions

Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat and add some nonstick spray or add a bit of olive oil. When hot add the onion and slowly sauté, seasoning with a pinch each salt and pepper.

When the onions are soft – about 5 minutes – turn up the head to medium and add the mushrooms. Season with another pinch of salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms and onions are slightly browned and fragrant – about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and add beans and mash. You’re looking for a rough mash, not to turn it into a paste, so you can leave some whole or halved if you want. Taste and add another pinch of salt, or pepper if needed.

Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl, add the quinoa, chili powder or cumin and stir. Lastly, add the walnuts a little at a time until the mixture is thick and malleable enough to form into patties. Pop in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to cool and preheat your oven to 375. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick spray or olive oil.

Once chilled, form into small patties. I love using a peanut butter jar lid lined with plastic wrap to get the perfect, mess-free shape (a tip I learned from Iowa Girl Eats). See photo.

Arrange on the baking sheet and brush or spray the tops with olive oil and another pinch of black pepper and any leftover crushed walnuts (optional). Bake at 375 for a total of 40-45 minutes, flipping around the 20-minute mark. Cook longer to dry them out even more and achieve more crisp, but it’s not necessary. For a quicker option, form into thinner patties (1/4 inch) and brown in a saucepan over medium to medium-high heat lightly coated with olive oil. Cook until brown on both sides – 3-4 minutes on each side. However, this version doesn’t get them as well done in the middle.

Serve on small buns or atop mixed greens with desired toppings.

If you don’t want to cook the whole batch at once, form into 10 thicker patties, parbake them at 375 for 15-20 minutes. Then cool and stack between layers of parchment paper and cover. Freeze for up to a few weeks. To cook, bake as instructed until desired texture/color is reached.

Talk About It

Dana, you a girl after my heart! I am so a burger and fries girl. For some reason people think that since I am a vegetarian I just want to eat salads. This sounds super yummy. Could I use some cooked millet instead of the quinoa? Thank you for sharing your recipe and have a sweet day.

I don’t really eat mayo as I’m more of a ketchup/mustard girl. But, if I were going to try one I’d probably make a cashew cream sauce with a bit more sweetness to it to mock the flavor of mayo. Hope that helps! Otherwise, silken tofu would be a good base.

first off….i want to thank you for these wonderful recipes and gorgeous photos!!
you both are ultra talented! every recipe i have tried has been great and i’m all
about some veggie burgers. this will be “what’s for dinner tonight?)
thanks sooooooo much and i look forward to each new post!

Omg I JUST saw these mushroom, onion walnut burgers over at An Unrefined Vegan last night, haha and commented there! Guess mushrooms and walnuts are on everybody’s mind. :) Unfortunately, I don’t eat mushrooms, but they sure look tasty and I like that you added quinoa! They are super cute as sliders too!

This recipe looks so delicious, I will have to try them out at some point! Your blog has been a huge cooking inspiration to me and I have just recently purchased your E-book for food photography and am in love! Thank you.
Molly xo

I’ve really been wanting to try a recipe like this, but I have been too intimidated. This recipe looks so tasty, it’s healthy, and I’m fairly confident that I could pull it off…without totally screwing it up. I’m darn near drooling over the pictures…wow these look so delicious! I’m going to give this a shot! Thank you so much for sharing!

Hey Dana,
I tried these out with a few substitutions yesterday (ground cashew instead of walnuts, black beans instead of kidney) and wanted to let you know that not only are they the best veggie burgers I’ve made, but probably the best I’ve ever had. Thank you!

hey Dana! :-) I and my bf tried making tofu burgers way back and stumbling upon this today makes me giddy – will share this recipe of yours to him. I have also wandered around your website and I am totally hooked. Consider me a follower from now on.

Also, I’d be very happy to feature you soon as one of the top minimalist websites at Greenfudge.org. I’ll write you again as soon as the article is up.

Hi I am very new to your website, as of today, and am so impressed that, when I saw your recipe, I could print it straight away instead of copying and pasting into Word and then printing. I love this recipe and will be trying it next week. It looks fab.

Hi, I followed this recipe to the letter, except for halving it and subbing the walnut for crushed sunflower seeds. They are still cooking so I can’t vouch for the taste, but I just flipped them and 3 out 4 patties broke apart into crumbly messes. I’m sure they will still be tasty but i was really looking for that patty, burger like consistency and they are just too crumbly and fragile. Any ideas why?

Made these last night – SO yummy! My husband and I are trying to eat more vegan so this was a great recipe! The vegan-thing is a little harder for him but he loved these! We both agreed they’re WAY better than any frozen veggie burgers and have a fraction of the amount of sodium which is awesome.
Mine were a little crumbly but I’m not exact on measurements so I’ll follow those a little more closely next time.
Awesome recipe (like everything else we’ve tried on here)!

I subbed mushrooms for the same amount of sweet red pepper, sautéd longer , then turned it up to get rid of the extra water from the peppers, (i put them in a food processor w/ onions so it was finer) and it tured out a-okay .

I found this website searching for vegan cheesecake and immediately fell in love with the recipes! I cant wait to cook them all but today I made these and they were divine! Not to mention I subbed out the walnuts for other nuts due to not having them and used different kinds of beans and they were still great!! Super easy and not so messy to make… esp. since veggie burgers get messy. I also love how flexible the ingredients can be. Thanks so much for this recipe, it’s definitely on the top of my list :)

First off, love your recipes. I’ve tried a few already that were deliciousness incarnated and there’s more on my list! I’m not vegan or vegetarian, but a lot of my friends are and your recipes allow me to accommodate them and not feel like I’m missing out!

I haven’t tried the recipe yet because I have a question, who’s would the patties hold up if I threw them on the BBQ? Should I bake and freeze them first, or would they fall apart on the grill?

Great question! They will be a little tender on the grill, actually. If you make them a little thicker and are very gentle, it should work. Another tip would be to add a little foil on the grill to keep them from falling through. Otherwise, I’d recommend baking them. Hope that helps!

Hi Dana,
I just made these, followed the recipe to a t but they came out really really crumbly, I mean like granola crumbly. What do you think I did wrong? Any suggestions to prevent this happening next time?… I really want to make them again since the flavor was great! We ended up eating them like sloppy joes.

I think this is the first comment I’ve ever made but couldn’t help it this time. I love this recipe so much. I have been looking for a good burger recipe and have finally hit the jackpot. I have another batch (my third) ready to go now. This time I used red kidney beans instead of black beans and almonds instead of walnuts. They already taste delicious and they’re not even cooked yet! I love the versatility of this recipe. Last time I added garlic, this time I added garlic, fresh parsley, some smoked paprika and some liquid smoke. I can’t wait to try them cooked! I have also been adding a couple of dessert spoons of psyllium husks and the same amount of water and they stay together brilliantly. Thank you so much.

You rock, Dana! Thank you for posting this recipe because it is the most delicious veggie burger recipe on the planet! I followed the recipe exactly as posted but did add a couple table spoons of fresh lemon juice to just round out the flavors. I can’t wait to make another batch tomorrow and then throw a party, just so my friends can enjoy them too. It’s recipes like this that make it effortless to be a vegan and for that I’m very grateful to you. Thank you again for posting this recipe.

I really love the recipe and I like the taste, but I think I’ve done something wrong, because as I put them in the oven, they fell apart and wouldn’t stick together. Do you have any idea what I could have done wrong?

I just made this today and it was absolutely tasty. I substituted black beans for kidney beans, added garlic, and Serrano peppers for added spice. I uused a few chunks of avocado and a little salsa on my burger while my fiancé put kimchi on his. Hey, we like a lot of flavor clearly! I like that this recipe is very versatile and open for everyone’s interpretation.

These were great and came together very quickly! I cooked quinoa in skillet and used same pan for sautéing after and then the same pan again to finish the burgers up after baking and they were great! Half I added taco seasoning to and we topped with salsa and guacamole and the other half with cumin and then served with hot mustard on toasted pretzel bun sliders! These might be my new go-to veg burgers!

Love this recipe. Just made a batch up now to take to the cottage. I’ve incorporated the flax egg idea and left out the walnuts. Did add little rolled oats to the mixture. Going to parcook them, wrap and freeze them individually. Reheat them on the bbq. Great texture and flavour. Thanks for sharing.

I am a bit disappointed! These burgers looked stunning in the picture. I went out and picked up all of the ingredients so me and a few friends could try the recipe. We tried to follow it exactly as written. The end product was really mushy, the kidney beans dominated the taste, and the burgers fell apart. Now I refer to the burgers we made as “kibble burgers” because they were not much better than dog food.

Sigh, as a vegetarian I was really hoping for these to work out. But, based on others comments I guess I’ll have to try again!

Yesterday I googled simple vegetarian burger and this recipe popped up from my favorite food blog! I changed it up according to what I had on hand. Instead of quinoa I used freeka, black beans and I substituted pecans for walnuts. I used coconut oil instead of olive oil. And I love the idea of shaping the burgers in the jar lid. They were delicious and pretty !

I’m going to be having a BBQ this weekend with a ton of vegan food I’m making for my friends who’ve never had vegan food before, so OF COURSE I IMMEDIATELY thought of your recipes. I was wondering, instead of the worchestershire and steak sauce, would it be okay if I just subbed in BBQ sauce to give it more of a BBQ flavor or do you think that would ruin the flavor of everything? I’m going to be making them on the grill, so I thought that the BBQ sauce might make them hold together a little better – but I’m also afraid it might be too mushy.

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Hi, I'm Dana! I create simple, delicious recipes that require 10 ingredients or less, one bowl, or 30 minutes or less to prepare.